Blood Runs Thicker than Water
by NTJW
Summary: (Formerly Chi wa Chi Dake). Blood runs thicker than water... but blood is only blood. And yet... Setting some OCs in during the Shishio arc. No OC pairings as of yet though (as much as it may seem so...).
1. Enemy

Hello everyone of the RK fandom! I haven't written RK in a long time so hopefully I can do it justice, yeah?

I have no clue who to put as the two main characters o.O perhaps time will tell...

Disclaimer: I am not making any profit from this despite how much I need it. All the characters that you recognize belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki. The characters you do not recognize are my own.

..

Enemy

..

Okina scrutinized the woman before him. Long black hair, pale skin, poise and beauty to rival the court ladies of Edo castle. A lovely specimen of a female by all means. But her eyes. They were a piercing frigid blue. There was something in those eyes that made it feel dangerous to be in her presence.

"The Aoiya was attacked last night?" her voice was smooth and lilting.

"Yes," the old man stroked his beard. She doubtless knew everything about the attack.

"You sent one of them home with a gift," the smile that crossed her delicate features did nothing to warm the atmosphere around her, "When is your answer?"

A corner of Okina's beard twitched. _So, she knew about the whole thing._ "Nothing escapes you, does it?"

"I wouldn't say that. Why else would I ask of your answer?" two perfectly sculpted eyebrows went up a little but the woman's expression remained otherwise unchanged.

"I think... you would have your methods of finding out," his let his eyes dart to the rice paper door, knowing that the action would not be lost on her.

Blue eyes flickered in response before a smile settled on her face in earnest, "Yes, but there is no harm in decorum."

_Really, she is pretty when she smiles._ But, there was a reason that he did not, would not tease this woman. This particular woman… He sighed, "No, I suppose not."

* * *

The old man was right. It wasn't that there was nothing that escaped her… but whatever did… she left it unknown on purpose or it was hidden _very_ well. And if something was hidden to that extent… well then she definitely made it her business to know.

Standing by the temple, she looked at the trees around her, "Hikaru. Report," she said quietly.

A female voice drifted towards her from an undistinguishable source, carried by the wind, "The Tiger grows restless. After the demon has been killed and his fingers cut off, the hunt will begin."

"Dismissed," a faint rustle reached her ears, "Takaiwa. Anything new?"

"Perry will arrive again as a demon in Tokyo," the light baritone reached her from somewhere behind her.

She drew a breath of air sharply, "Tell the wolf... and say that Ruka sends her regards."

The image of a light-haired man bowing slightly flickered before her momentarily and once again, she was alone.

* * *

"Aoshi."

He turned at the sound of the voice. Someone had followed him from the lookout point, he knew that. It wasn't Misao-this ki was different, more mature, more deadly. Something tugged at the back of his mind. A voice… a voice that had somehow managed to pierce the walls he had built around his mind. No… he had heard it because it had already been inside his mind when the barriers that blocked out the rest of the unnecessary world had gone up. This voice had followed him through his wanderings. And yet it had seemingly disappeared when he set foot in Kyoto.

"Show yourself," his eyes picked out where the leaves didn't seem to quite follow the wind, however convincing the movement was.

A woman melted out of the trees before him dressed in a red and black shinobi-gi.

An unreadable emotion flashed through Aoshi's eyes when she appeared. Once again, the voice in his mind pulled at his inner being. Something about how the blue of her eyes reflected… So familiar… Something about her… He shut his eyes and, when he opened them, the voice went quiet.

"So," she broke eye contact and looked away. Something akin to bitterness crept into her cold, hushed voice, "This is what you are now."

He narrowed his eyes, "I become what I must." This woman knew nothing. What gave her the right to speak of him with such distaste? It was his choice, after all. It had nothing to do with her.

"To do what?" she hissed. "Do you really think turning your back on everyone will help achieve your goals?"

"You know nothing of my goals," his voice pierced the air like a frozen dagger.

Her blue eyes flared, "I know nothing? If you truly believe that… then you are blind, Aoshi. Blind." She spat the words out like bitter ice.

In an instant one of his blades was drawn and at her throat, the pressure broke skin and a trickle of blood ran down her neck. "I could kill you right now," his dark eyebrows came together in a scowl.

She took in his menacing whisper without batting an eye. _I am not afraid of you._ "So do it. What would it accomplish?"

It was after he noted the complete absence of fear in her eyes that he felt the long bo-shuriken poised to strike just under his ribcage. Gazing into her clear blue orbs, he was struck by a feeling of vertigo... like he was falling into them. Then, as suddenly as he had sought to strike her down, he withdrew and sheathed his kodachi, "It would be a waste of my strength," was all he offered in explanation before turning away from her smoothly and making his way out of the clearing.

"Is it wise…"

Shinomori Aoshi's ears pricked unconsciously at her quiet voice.

"Is it wise, I wonder," she knew fully well that he was listening, "To turn your back to an enemy."

He stopped in his tracks for a moment before continuing. No. It was never wise to turn his back on an enemy. But that voice… something had told him that she was not an enemy… that she was anything but an enemy… Something about how she had been able to see straight through him and counter him without his noticing…

* * *

She watched the creamy white of his jacket fade into the shadows and stood watching the precise spot where she lost sight of him for a time. The woman brought a hand to the cut on her neck. A fine line appeared between her eyebrows as she studied the smear of blood on her fingers.

_Perhaps… he is not beyond saving._

_.._

_shinobi-gi: _ninja outfit basically

_bo-shuriken: _it was a shuriken that was basically shaped like what popular culture deemed the kunai; in essence, a throwing knife

So, hopefully you guys understand what's kind of sort of going on? It'll become clear in a few chapters, hopefully.

Thank you for reading! Please review! :D


	2. Preparation

So, I'm trying to write this all out before the plot bunnies desert me. Just know that if I'm uploading a chapter, I have at least part of a draft for the next chapter already written up.

On another note, this chapter devotes a good third of itself to Aoshi... man, that guy has so much going through his head at any given moment -.- For a man of few words, his thought process is rather long-winded...

Disclaimer: I do not own RK. I do, however, own the OCs that you will get a glimpse of in this chapter! :D

..

Preparation

..

"How can you be sure?"

"I was informed by an outside source."

"One of your men?"

"No."

"How do you know it can be trusted?"

"This source… this particular source has never been wrong."

"Firing on Tokyo would throw the country into chaos… The people would lose faith in the Meiji government and thus, Shishio will have succeeded. It does make sense."

Amber eyes stared down at the map dispassionately.

"Did your… source tell you where the ship would set off from?"

"Osaka."

* * *

Aoshi sat in the darkness of his chosen room. The dark bookshelves loomed around him. For someone who had grown up and trained in the shadows, there was no need for light. Slits of midnight blue glowed from behind dark wisps of hair, brooding on the events of the past day.

The woman that had challenged him… surely he had been imagining the familiarity he felt emanating from her. The way the light in her eyes would have mirrored his, if not for the fact that he had long since eliminated any source of brightness from his being. They were eyes that understood, eyes that _knew_. What they understood and what they knew… he wasn't sure.

It was the idea that she comprehended something, knew something about him… He cursed inwardly. Surely, he hadn't let himself slip. But then, that was the only explanation. Why he had let her live; why he had bothered to even explain why he had let her live; why, even now, his thoughts were so muddled from the encounter. What was it that she understood? What did she know?

He closed his eyes and stood. There was no use mulling over those questions.

How had she known where he would be? How had she been so quick to respond to his threat with one of her own? Unless his speed and stealth had been compromised somehow… No. That was impossible. Aoshi had not spent his time in the mountains for nothing. Days that grew into weeks and months of training; perfecting his skills, his techniques; honing his methodical battle instincts for the sake of one goal.

When his eyes opened, they were a stormy grey tinged with something akin to madness. A hand went to the hilt of his sword.

Why? Why was he so taken aback by her words? _"So do it. What would it accomplish?"_ It almost sounded like something he would have said. Maybe it was the idea that, once, Okashira Shinomori Aoshi of the Edo guard would have said the same thing... or maybe it was because he was struck by the veracity of that statement. As far as he knew, she did not stand in the way of his goal. She didn't even know about his goal. She had not mentioned it and she had not stopped him.

In a sudden burst of motion, he whipped out one of his kodachi and struck the thick wood of the shelf next to him. His coat swirled and rippled around him even after his own movements ceased. He gazed with a detached air at the blade embedded in the dense material.

To kill Battousai. To finally give his men the title of the strongest. To lay such a flower at their graves. Yes. That was all that mattered. All else was insignificant.

* * *

_The fire will be left to those who have defended Kyoto since the old days… Then what of us?_ Cold eyes narrowed. _No. Our power is to strike from the shadows, so from the shadows it is…_ She looked around the decrepit room. The building had long since been abandoned. Dust drifted lazily through the dying rays of sun that peeked in through torn doors and broken walls.

"Asada and Terada will return from Shanghai in a few months," a dark eyed man bowed before her, his lithe, lean form straightening at a nod.

"Thank you, Kite," she watched as he stood before turning her attention to a man who stood in a corner, "It would seem… that he has planned to make his move at that time, doesn't it, Takaiwa?"

"Aa. It confirms the previous information," the light-haired man turned towards the gathering in the abandoned dojo.

"Hakamada-sama. What is the plan for tonight?"

Hakamada Rin observed the faces of those gathered there. How long had it been since they had all gathered for a mission like this? She then settled her gaze on the young woman who had spoken, "Hikaru, as you were," now to a young man with a sullen expression and an unstrung bow on the ground next to him, "Yagyuu, we may have use of you tonight… you too, Arisa," a young woman with steel-grey eyes, "for the same reason." She paused.

"Okashira, what of the rest of us?" a man with black hair, cropped short raised his eyes to hers, a hand on the sword that lay across his lap.

Blue orbs flashed in the growing shadows of twilight, "Sanada… stay by Yagyuu or Arisa and keep an eye on the people. Try to make sure none of the townsfolk are injured. If you see anything suspicious, do not hesitate to investigate further but do so with caution."

He nodded, "Always."

And now for the man who had brought her information, "Kite, you will drift. If anything happens either report straight to me or notify Takaiwa. I trust you to use your judgment on that. If the situation requires, you may do otherwise."

"Okashira?" Takaiwa had moved so that he was closer to the group.

"Try to pinpoint all the likely locations where they would try to start a fire. Our sister clan will have the townspeople up and about but all the same, they cannot be everywhere at once."

Yagyuu's quiet voice was heard, "Is there anything else, Okashira?"

Rin cocked an eyebrow, "You and Arisa," she said, "If you loose an arrow or fire off a kunai, be prepared to retrieve it, as per usual."

The two of them inclined their heads slightly.

"But," Rin pulled out two blood-red feathers from a pouch at her side, "Leave something for the wolf," she studied the feathers for a moment, turning them in her fingers before relinquishing them to the duo, "Let him know that we still watch over the city."

Arisa pulled out a length of thread and began tying the plume to the end of a long throwing knife. It fluttered in the slight breeze that had crept into the room. Yagyuu regarded the quill silently before pulling out a small razor and quickly began making meticulous, precise cuts, trimming the feather down.

She watched as the archer pulled out an arrow and removed part of the fletching, replacing the mottled grey barb with crimson. A sigh, and then, "As always, it is imperative that we stay out of sight… of _everyone_. In this city of memories," she pursed her lips for a moment before continuing, "There are no doubt those who have not forgotten. Do I make myself clear?"

Each individual acquiesced, murmured affirmation, bowed before, one by one they melted into the shadows of the early evening.

For the third time that evening, Okashira Hakamada Rin surveyed the now-empty space, sweeping across it with her clear blue eyes. After a moment, her shadow, too, faded into the darkness.

..

Everyone, meet Okashira Hakamada Rin. She and her clan are OCs. She's the one on the image of this story. I tried to draw in Watsuki-sensei's style... heh... keyword: tried

Thank you for reading! Please review! Constructive criticisms are very welcome (there's probably a lot to criticize too...)


End file.
